Cable communications systems typically transmit encrypted data streams according to a single proprietary scheme. Accordingly, cable operators must purchase decryption, or set-top, devices, which reside at the subscriber's premises, that decrypt the data streams according to the proprietary encryption scheme. Obviously, it is to the cable operator's and the subscriber's benefit to be able to source multiple set-tops having different decryption schemes instead of having to choose just a single decryption set-top for the system. In this light, an operator now has an option of installing an overlay system, which allows for multiple encryption schemes and likewise multiple decryption devices that each decrypts one of the encrypted streams.
In an overlay system, however, special precautions should be taken to ensure multiple encrypted transport streams are not in conflict or do not collide. It will be appreciated that in a conventional communications system, there are varying levels of streams that comprise a transport stream. Very generally, a transport stream comprises a plurality of programs where each has a program number. Each of the program streams comprises video, audio, and data elementary streams. Furthermore, each elementary stream comprises video, audio, or data packets. A program number in a program association table (PAT) identifies each program and an associated program map table (PMT). Each PMT then identifies the elementary streams with packet identifiers (PIDs). The program numbers and PIDs are initially chosen out of a well known fixed range of numbers defined in the MPEG specification. Therefore, there exists a chance that two separate transport streams coming from different service providers that are transmitted using the same system, may include common identifiers (e.g., program numbers and PIDs) causing the two streams to overlap, thereby presenting program numbers and/or elementary stream packets that do not have unique identifying stream values, but are intended for two different decryption devices. In this case, a decryption device receives the encrypted stream with packets having different encryption schemes using the same identifier and may try to decrypt the wrong streams, which would then cause several problems. Accordingly, there exists a need to discover, monitor, and dynamically change the identifiers and stream routes in the transport streams in such a system to ensure that conflicts do not arise.